The Kingdom, The Kids, & The Cowboys

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Category: Matthew (Page 12 of 24)

God & Money

November 20, 2014 / / 1 Comment

“No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.” ~Matthew 6:24

Senator Phil Gramm once famously said, “I’ve got more guns than I need, but not more than I want.” Most of us might be able to say the same thing about our TVs, our cars, our computers, our books, our bank accounts, or the square feet in our house. More than we need; not more than we want.

Our Lord teaches that we are not to store up treasures for ourselves on earth but, instead, to store up treasures in heaven. He says not to worry about food and drink or clothes and cars, that our faithful Father will provide everything we need. He says to focus on the Kingdom, to seek first and foremost the Kingdom, and then all the stuff we really need will be given to us.

To chase after the things of this world, to spend our time and money and resources securing material things, working at a job we hate to pursue things that won’t last, isn’t a matter of not trusting that God will give us what we need. But it may be a matter of not trusting that God will give us what we want. And what we want seems to be very, very important.

Myself included.

There’s a group of young men in Abilene who are taking the Sermon on the Mount seriously. They have decided to give up the pursuit of material things in order to live together in one of the poorest neighborhoods in town and serve the community with God’s love and grace. Our Bible classes here at Central recently watched a video interview with three young men who are living in this Allelon Community. And I was immediately struck by how my first thoughts about these guys were negative. Why was I feeling negatively about these men who are living out in such concrete ways the teachings of our Lord? They’re sharing everything — the rent, the bills, the food, the clothes, everything — so they can work less and spend more time in Gospel relationship blessing their neighbors. Yet, I found myself judging the blankets hanging over their windows in place of curtains. I caught myself judging the holes in their T-shirts, the unmowed grass in the yard, the unkempt hair, and the terribly messy living room.

Ha. It’s easy to judge others. It’s much more difficult to evaluate my own life as it stands in contrast to Jesus’ teachings.

How might these guys judge me if they were to see the inside of my house? “Why does he have four TVs?” “Why are there four cars in his driveway?” “How many of these shirts in his closet does this dude actually wear?”

The exhortations in the Sermon on the Mount are not intended to bring us down. They’re not unrealistic expectations for a disciple of Jesus. And they’re not commands as much as they are encouragements. Reminders. To paraphrase Bonhoeffer on this particular passage, we have here either a crushing burden, which holds out no hope, or else it is the quintessence of the Gospel, which brings the promise of freedom and perfect joy. Jesus does not tell us what we ought to do but cannot; he tells us what God has given us and promises to continue giving us, so we can live lavishly in him.

It’s not “Stop chasing material things! Stop worrying about your food! Stop hoarding money and buying more stuff!” It’s more like, “Look at everything you have in Christ Jesus! Why are you chasing material things? Look at all the blessings and promises that belong to you in Jesus!Why are you worrying about food? Look at the boundless love of your God! Why are you hoarding money and buying more stuff?”

Come on, I love God. I serve God.  I like to buy things, but I’m not serving money.

“Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” ~Matthew 6:21

What would the Allelon boys say about you if they toured your house? I’m just asking…

Peace,

Allan

Pray for Peace

November 5, 2014 / / 1 Comment

“Christ Jesus is our peace. He came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near. For through him we all have access to the Father by one Spirit.” ~Ephesians 2:14-18

We experienced just a wee bit more excitement today than we had anticipated — today’s clashes at the Temple Mount and Hamas attack at a Jerusalem light rail station were not on the itinerary. But everybody in our little Central group is OK and feeling very safe tonight. We have the best tour guide and bus driver in the entire Middle East and we trust them implicitly. We’re not sure what our schedule will be like for our final full day tomorrow; we don’t know what will be opened or closed or how our plans will be interrupted. But everybody in our group is fine. We spent a full hour after dinner together tonight processing the events of the day and it’s all actually been very, very powerfully good for us. Talk about bonding… man!

It’s 10:00 pm Wednesday night in Jerusalem. Time to say those evening prayers. I would ask you to pray for this holy city.

Our Lord is a King of Peace. He came to this earth in order to bring peace, to reveal to us our God of peace, to tear down the hostilities and break down the walls that come between humans and God and humans and one another. And, two thousand years later, his people still don’t know how to live it. It’s tragic, really. It’s terrible. This city of peace is anything but. This is a city of pride and envy, power and control, greed and selfishness, hatred and violence, revenge and death. It must sadden our King. And so it must also sadden us.

It must.

We must share our Lord’s sorrow. “O Jerusalem,” he lamented, “O Jerusalem, how I long to gather your children together as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings. But you are not willing.” “O Amarillo, how I long… but you are not willing.” “O Dallas, how I long… but you are not willing” “O Atlanta…” “O Brasilia…” O Kharkov…” “O St. Louis…” “O Bogota…” O fill in the blank of any city in the world…

Lord, come quickly.

Shalom,

Allan

Central has 750 Ministers

September 29, 2014 / / 0 Comments

We swore in almost 750 men, women, and children yesterday as ministers at the Central Church of Christ. Borrowing from the Gospel accounts of the feeding of the multitudes in which the disciples asked Jesus for a way to solve the problem and Jesus responded by telling his followers, “You give them something to eat,” we declared that everybody in our Lord’s Kingdom is a Christian minister. We are all priests, saved and sanctified by God to serve as powerful mediators between him and humanity.

As priests, we reflect the holiness of God. We are holy because God is holy. And that holiness will not be compromised or conditioned. We are set apart. We are ordained by God for his purposes and to his eternal praise.

As priests, we offer spiritual sacrifices to God. We give our bodies to God. We give our money to God. We submit our very lives to God so that everything we do and say and think is offered to him.

We intercede like priests. We grab our brothers and sisters and we take them to God in prayer. We bring them into God’s presence and intercede for their healing and forgiveness and blessings and peace.

And, as priests, we represent God before others. We bless people. We take what God has given us and we, in turn, give it to others. We graciously share his love and mercy, his comfort and forgiveness, to everyone we meet with his power and authority as his holy priests.

A lot of us, though, are paralyzed. We’re stuck. We see things that need to be done, but we wait on somebody else to do them. We know something’s wrong, but we count on somebody else to fix it. We hear that somebody’s hurting, but we wonder if it’s any of our business. We’re especially susceptible to this in a big church. We recognize a hole that needs to be plugged or a problem that needs to be solved or a brother who needs a visit, and we don’t do anything. And then we wonder why it didn’t get done.

We are all powerful priests in God’s sight. Nobody in God’s Church has more power or authority or more permission than anyone else. We’re all the same. We have different gifts, certainly. But we’re all called to serve. Nobody’s exempt. We’re all authorized to pray and teach. We’re all authorized to comfort and minister, to encourage and bless. We all have the same permission.

To drive the point home, we passed out 750 little sheriff’s badge stickers at the conclusion of our lesson, pinned them on one another, and we swore everybody in as ministers in God’s Church. We all stood and raised our right hands and recited these vows together out loud:

“I do solemnly swear as a faithful member of God’s royal priesthood to act like a priest. I promise to henceforth and forever more regard myself as a minister in God’s Church. I promise to honor and respect and love and cherish my fellow brothers and sisters in Christ. I promise to encourage and not tear down, to bless and not curse, to submit and to serve in compassion and kindness until Christ Jesus returns. As a minister and a priest in God’s Kingdom, this is my pledge as surely as the Lord shall live. Amen.”

With those gold stars pinned to our chests, we all looked like we belonged in a saloon scene in a corny old western movie. But when the words began coming out of our mouths, and the weight of our promises began to take hold, the worship center was transformed into a sacred place where we acknowledged the wisdom and power of our God who would dare to partner with us in his work of redeeming the world.

Peace,

Allan

 

Brought to Jesus

September 19, 2014 / / 0 Comments

You probably are aware that high school seniors today don’t just take the year book photo alone. Oh, no. That’s not nearly enough. They have to go out to exotic locations with their own commissioned photographer and half a dozen changes of clothes and take a hundred different portraits to capture the singular beauty and unique personality of each candidate for graduation.

Hannah McNeill is our family photographer. And she has done a remarkable job with our “Little Middle.” Of course, it would be tough to mess up pictures of Valerie. But Hannah is just the best at what she does with our kids. You can check out a bunch of Hannah’s work by clicking here. But her most important work lately can be seen in these thumbnails.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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“People brought to him all who were ill with various diseases…” ~Matthew 4:24

“Some men brought to him a paralytic, lying on a mat.” ~Matthew 9:2

“A man who was demon-possessed and could not talk was brought to Jesus.” ~Matthew 9:32

“They brought him a demon-possessed man who was blind and mute.” ~Matthew 12:22

“Then little children were brought to Jesus…” ~Matthew 19:13

These people Jesus healed and saved, these people who felt the compassionate touch of the Father through the Holy Son were brought to Jesus. They were brought to him by somebody else.

It’s not “build it and they will come.” Praise the Lord, sometimes that actually works. But that’s not the deal. It’s really “if you bring them they will see.”

We go get them and bring them to Jesus. As his followers, as his loyal subjects, that’s our mission. It’s our charge as his disciples. We don’t sit around and wait for people to come to Jesus. We go out and get them and bring them into his presence.

You know, you can do that just by inviting people to church.

Now, let me be clear. I’m not talking about bringing people to church just so we can count them. Inviting people to church is not about filling up your worship center. It’s about inviting people to a place where they can encounter Jesus. Our Christian assemblies are still the widest on-ramp into your community of faith. A worship service is still the main entry point, the biggest front door, to someone encountering a group of people who represent and embody our Lord and Savior. What better place to see Jesus? What better venue for experiencing his love and acceptance, his mercy and grace, his peace and joy?

I’ve seen and heard in three different places this year that if you invite anywhere from five to seven people to your church, one of them will say “yes” and come. One out of every six (or so) people you invite to worship with your church on Sunday will say “yes” and do it. The question is: Is anybody inviting anybody?!?

There are so many people in our community — countless numbers; you’ll interact with several of them over the next 24 hours — who have never experienced anything like the merciful love and saving grace of Jesus. And it’s because nobody’s ever brought them into the presence of Jesus. You can do that, you know, just by inviting them to your worship assembly this Sunday.

Peace,

Allan

The Same Love

June 19, 2014 / / 0 Comments

“This is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ.” ~Philippians 1:9

The King wanted to settle accounts with his servants. As he began the settlement, they brought before him Allan, a man who owed ten million dollars. Since Allan was not able to pay, the Master ordered that he and his wife and his three daughters and all that he owned be sold to repay the debt. Allan fell on his knees before the King. “Be patient with me,” he begged, “and I will pay back everything.” Allan’s Master took pity on him. And he canceled the debt. And set him free.

But when Allan went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him ten bucks. Allan grabbed him and began to choke him. “Pay me what you owe me!” he demanded.

How can Christ’s love for me not be the same love we have for each other?

I always forgive you because Christ always forgives me. I make sacrifices for you because Christ gave the ultimate sacrifice for me. I serve you because Jesus served me. I give in to you, I submit to you, I defer to you, because Jesus went to the cross for me. He died for me while I was his enemy. He buried my sins at the bottom of the ocean floor. He’s removed them from me as far as the East is from the West.

My friend, you don’t owe me anything. You owe me nothing. And I will never, ever demand anything from you. I can’t.

How can Christ’s love for me not be the same love we have for each other?

If it is — when it is — then we’re able to discern what is best for our congregations and for our relationships within our congregations. There’s not a situation or circumstance or problem that can possibly come up that can’t be navigated correctly  when everybody abounds in love. When decisions do need to be made and lines do need to be drawn, we always err on the side of love and grace. We err in the way of sacrifice and service. We err in the name of Christian love.

Peace,

Allan

Are You Bringing It?

June 3, 2014 / / 0 Comments

Jesus prays to our Father, “Your Kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” Jesus preaches the Kingdom of God. Jesus declares the Kingdom of God. He prays it. And he proclaims it: “It is at hand!” “It is here!” Jesus points it out: “The Kingdom! Yes! Look at it!”

But, more than that, Jesus brings the Kingdom of God to earth. He brings it. Jesus does God’s will on earth just as it is in heaven.

Jesus casts out demons because there are no demons in heaven.
Jesus heals because there is no sickness in heaven.
Jesus feeds because there is no hunger in heaven.
Jesus raises the dead because there is no death in heaven.

“Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”

Are you praying this prayer? Jesus said it was a good idea to pray this prayer, to ask God to please do his will here on earth just like it’s done in heaven. More importantly, are you bringing it? Are you bringing the Kingdom of God to your part of the earth? Are you obeying his will just like the rocks and the trees and the oceans and the animals obey his will?

There is no revenge in heaven. There is no hate in heaven. There are no arguments in heaven. There are no disagreements in heaven. No suspicion. No politics. No war. No division of any kind. No power-grabbing. No violence, verbal or physical. No mistrust. No complaining. You won’t find any of those things in heaven.

Do you find any of those things in your church? In your elders’ meetings? In your congregational committees? Are you bringing the Kingdom of God into your part of the world or some other, very different things? Into your marriage? Into your family around the dinner table at night? Are you bringing the Kingdom of God to your workplace? To your school? To the Little League team you’re coaching or the civic club to which you belong?

If God has completely eradicated selfish behavior and gamesmanship and competition in heaven, if that is his holy will, why would you tolerate it in your church? Or in your house? Why in the world would you actually insist on bringing it into your congregation? Or putting up with it?

The rivers and the trees and the squirrels and the fish all obey God’s will on earth just as it is in heaven. What’s wrong with us?

Peace,

Allan

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